The Everton defender has been in a relationship with his childhood sweetheart for over four years
Jake O’Brien has only made two Premier League starts this season for Everton. The Cork-born defender has found opportunities hard to come by during this campaign but manager David Moyes showed his faith by starting him in Everton’s home win against Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park.
He also started Everton’s last league match as the Toffees defeated Brighton 1-0 in the Premier League, and will be hoping to feature for the Blues later today. O’Brien joined in the summer for £16.43m from French side Olympique Lyonnais.
He could start again as Everton face Leicester City in the Premier League this afternoon at Goodison Park. Away from the pitch, Jake is in a relationship with make-up and fashion influencer Sophie Lawlor, who is also from Cork. The pair have been together for more than four years.
Sophie’s videos about fashion, shopping and beauty advice have garnered over £1m likes in total on TikTok. Speaking about their relationship last year when Jake was playing in France, Sophie revealed they had known each other since childhood.
She said: “Jake and I met through family friends. Our aunts are best friends so we would have known each other from a young age but then we went to secondary school together and that’s where our friendship started. So definitely friends to lovers but I always had a secret crush on him since I was young!”
Sophie explained that she enjoyed being with Jake, getting the chance to travel with him across the world thanks to his footballing career. He said: “I’ve always been into social media and posting life updates and being with Jake has given me amazing opportunities to travel and see the world which I’m so grateful for so I just like to document it and bring my followers along with me.
“Showing the amazing things about being with an athlete but also the struggles of living away from family and friends, feeling lonely at times, but overall it’s amazing and I get great feedback from my followers!
“The plan for us two is to just enjoy life! It’s hard to plan ahead in this career as anything can change very quickly but I know our future is exciting. We have a nine-month-old puppy so maybe another one in a year or two, who knows!”
In a recent TikTok video, Sophie spoke of her pride at Jake getting his first Premier League start and revealed that Seamus Coleman’s wife Rachel Cunnigham had invited the couple and O’Brien’s brother Charlie to their box in Goodison for the game.
Sophie said: “I’m over the moon. I’ve never been so happy. We’ve waited for this moment for such a long, long time and it’s finally happening. I’m just so excited to watch him play football because it’s been a very long time but that’s the price you pay in football. Not everything goes to plan all the time.
“Seamus Coleman’s wife Rachel kindly invited me and Charlie to their box. We’re all so excited. They’re the most genuine, nice people. It’s so kind of them to even think of us.”